1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mobile commerce, and more particularly electronic payment systems for portable communication devices that act as smart cards.
2. Description of Related Art
Because of the widespread adoption of mobile telephones and of the benefits attributed to the emerging smart card technology for use as stored value devices, there is considerable interest in adapting mobile telephones using smart card technology for use as stored value devices. United States Patent Publication No. 2006/0097037A1, entitled Electronic Value Transfer Device Equipped with Non-Contact IC Interface, by Sakamura, et al. describes one system taking advantage of the smart card technology combined with mobile terminals such as cell phones.
The use of portable electronic devices as smart cards that store value creates a new class of security problem, because of inability to control access to and tampering with the smart cards. Computer-based security technology, including encryption and authentication systems can limit the exposure to tampering. However, consumer trust in such computer-based security technology is low. Also, the incentives for breaking through the computer-based protection grow as the value stored on the device increases.
In addition, the financial transaction networks used for mobile commerce architectures have been dominated by the banking system and communication system providers. This reliance on existing banking and telecommunication provider networks limits the flexibility and has impeded widespread development and use of the technology.
It is desirable to provide an architecture for mobile commerce that reduces the exposure to tampering with mobile communication devices and fraudulent use of the electronically stored money, while also reducing the dependence on access to the banking and telecommunication provider system networks.